


Shepard Takes a Nap (Or Tries to)

by StrandsofNehn



Series: Viola Shepard [10]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Canon, Retirement, post destroy, that house on the beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 12:15:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4705646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrandsofNehn/pseuds/StrandsofNehn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An original pairing writing practice that turned into unapologetic Shakarian fluff. Because they deserve to be happy damn it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shepard Takes a Nap (Or Tries to)

Curls peak out of the blanket on the couch.

The house is… less than quiet, but the echoes of children’s laughter and shrieks of glee do not seem to move her.

A smile tugs at him and he sits on the coffee table next to her, unable to see where she lay exactly. A low mutter comes from the blanket and he pulls the blue fabric away from her face to watch the way her brow furrows and lips smack together in a sure sign of sleep. He can’t help but laugh.

Black-brown curls look much the same as always (an afro atop her head that his daughter is thrilled to share) but her eyebrows are messy from the tossing and turning she surely had been doing. He traces the line of one with his knuckle to help shape it in her usual way (she would surely have to fix it anyways but he knows she will appreciate the effort) continuing to follow the lines of her face, the path of freckles along the bridge of her nose and other cheek, up and around to smooth out her other.

A small sigh leaves her and he lightly presses his forehead to her own. “What time is it?”

He smiles at the sound of contentment in her voice, “a little after 1800.”

“Hm, I guess dinner will be late tonight.”

"Don’t worry about it, it’s my night anyways.”

“Oh. It is, huh?” A small smile stretches her lips. “What are you making me?”

He watches her stretch and point her toes, rolling onto her side to watch him, “I was thinking chicken for you and Ana, maybe dads old favorite for me and Syl.”

“What type of chicken? And which favorite?”

He smiles and she blinks lazily at him, “I haven’t gotten that far. I was going to ask the kids.”

"Analyn has been asking for chicken fingers all day. You might make her night if you make her some.”

“I hardly believe you want chicken fingers.”

“No, not really.”

“Plus, I don’t want to get the frier out. Too much mess, remember last time?”

“Hey. You were the one who wanted to fry that twinkie.”

“Shepard. That was you.”

“Pft. Was not.”

He just rolls his eyes at her and she gives him a coy smile and shuffles onto her stomach, reaching out to take his hand that is rubbing small circles on her thigh.

She kisses his knuckles, “I missed you today.”

He smiles and leans down to her, “I missed you, too.” He kisses her softly. “It’s weird not having you around.”

“Tell me about it. Today I had to stop myself from saying ‘Vakarian, could you- blah blah blah.’ You know,” she laughs, “I’m used to having you on my six. I needed my sidekick."

“Sidekick?” He almost looks offended. “Honey, I am Garrus Vakarian. I’m Archangel. Not little Vi’s sidekick.”

She pouts, “My partner, maybe?”

He pauses, like it was a serious question. “Agreed. You’re like the Cat Woman to my Batman. Without you know, all the stupid manipulative parts.”

She’s laughing now, and he thinks back to when they first watched the vids, 'the original Archangel' she said. “Okay, Bruce. Whatever you say.”

He gives her a grin, “How were the girls today?”

“Not too bad, Analyn drew on our bedroom walls. With finger paint. How? I am not entirely sure. I could have sworn I locked up all the crafting things from yesterday, so there is a lovely fresco right by your dresser now.” He laughs. “Sylah was sick, unfortunately.” Garrus winces. “So, I had a lovely time cleaning up puke from the carpet. Which is also the reason it smells like coffee in here.”

“I was wondering about that.”

"Yeah, soaked it right up, very helpful, very gross. Smelled like varren. Motherhood is just disgusting sometimes.”

“Undoubtedly.”

She sighs, “Yeah. So, that was my day.”

He brings their hands up and kisses her fingers in a way that is familiar now, rubs her skin with his thumbs, “I’m sorry. She sounds okay now, though. She feeling better?”

Another sigh, “I think so. Once she had thrown everything up she seemed to feel a lot better. Still does if the shrieking is anything to go by." Garrus had to suppress a chuckle when their youngest made a very turian screech while Vi spoke. "Took a nap and woke up with enough energy to take down a krogan.”

“Too bad Wrex isn’t here.”

Shepard snorts, “Like she needs the help.” He smiles at her, her eyes are closed and she’s laying on her back. “Have you checked on them?”

"They were playing doctor when I got home," he confirms. "Ana said that Syl was sick, but I thought she was just pretending.” She hums. “Also said that mommy was sleeping so they had to be quiet.”

She snorts again, “Those little monsters wouldn’t know quiet if it kicked them in the ass.”

"Vi, those are your children.”

“And I love them," she says, smile fond.

“And I love all three of you. So, what do you want for dinner?”

**Author's Note:**

> Critiques and comments are always welcome and appreciated! And title ideas. My titles are sucking recently.
> 
> Also! Just to clarify, Ana is human and just happens to look similar enough to Shepard to be mistaken for her biological daughter but she is adopted and 5 years old here. Syl is turian and besides having purple eyes I don't have much of a mental image of her, but she's cute and 4 years old, also adopted.


End file.
